


Above Water

by hollywritessometimes



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Also Sanvers, Angst, Based off the promo for 2x19, F/F, Gen, Lots of that too, So much angst, Yall just wait, no one asked for this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-25
Updated: 2017-05-13
Packaged: 2018-10-23 18:58:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10725234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hollywritessometimes/pseuds/hollywritessometimes
Summary: I heard yall like angst. Here's my take on the 2x19 promo. Multichapter!





	1. Hour 1 - Alex

Alex opened her eyes to darkness. 

Her training immediately kicked in. So she started asking herself questions and taking inventory of what was injured, what she had, where she was.

She couldn’t see, but her head was uncovered. Okay, it’s just dark. Find a light source. Her hands were bound behind her back, but her feet were free. _Running is an option. But you have to figure out how to free your hands._ She concentrated on her body for a second, trying to calm the adrenaline down enough to where she could see what was injured. _Head hurts but it’s okay. Couple of bruised ribs. Arms and legs are good. What happened?_

Alex stood up straight and focused on the sounds around her, which wasn’t much. But she was trained to be able to find her way out of places like this. She closed her eyes, no use for them right now anyway, and lightly tapped her foot on the floor, listening to the way the sound traveled around her. She frowned. She tapped her foot harder, but her frown got deeper. _This is a small room…really small by the sound of it. This is not good._

Alex didn’t remember much. She had met with Maggie at the police station, and was on her way home, and then…nothing. _Is Maggie okay? Was she taken?_ Alex quickly shook her head. _One problem at a time._

She was in the process of deciding which wall to ram her shoulder into when the lights around her suddenly flickered on. 

Alex blinked a few times, immediately getting into the best fighting stance she could without the use of her hands, and quickly took in her surroundings.

She was in a small chamber. Partially glass. Partially cement block. It was about 10 feet wide on all sides and with a very short ceiling above her. Outside the glass portion was a large room. It was empty, apart from a table in the middle. It was one of those metal tables like you see in the movies where the main character gets tortured. Complete with the arm and foot straps. The whole nine yards. _Shit._

Alex slowly relaxed her stance, turning slightly to get a better view of the chamber she was in. There was a camera in one of the back corners. Which meant she was being watched. And meant that her being kidnapped wasn’t a coincidence. Her captors knew who she was. Probably knew what she could do. And also knew who her friends were.  
And Alex could already guess who they were trying to bait.

In the corner opposite of the camera was, is that a…showerhead? Alex frowned again. She glanced down to her feet, she was standing on a small circular drain. Her eyes got wide. _This can’t end well._

The door on the opposite side of the room outside of her chamber suddenly opened, and two armed guards walked in, staring Alex down, as if she could do any harm in her current state. Behind them, stood a man in a suit. He had pepper gray hair and a stubble beard to match. He looked tired. And worn. He looked aggravated. And angry. He approached the glass separating the two of them. Looking at Alex with a mixture of hatred and greed.

“Alex Danvers.”

Alex glared at him and said nothing.

The man tilted his head in curiosity and repeated, “Alex Danvers.”

“Who are you? And where am I?”

The man smiled. It was creepy. And sent chills down Alex’s back. “My name is Ray Archer. And it doesn’t matter where you are, because you aren’t going to make it out alive.”


	2. Hour 3 - Maggie

It had been a long day. But a good day, nonetheless. 

Work had been relatively slow, with only a couple of small gas station robberies to occupy her time. Alex had even found the time to swing by the station today and bring her lunch, as there wasn’t any alien crime happening in National City either. Everything was calm. 

Maggie smiled the entire drive home. Alex would be waiting for her. They had the entire night to themselves. Pizza and Netflix and… other things. It was going to be a good night.  
Maggie quickly turned her key in Alex’s lock, quietly nudging the door open in case Alex was sleeping.

She was met with darkness.

Maggie frowned, reaching over to hit the light switch next to her, “Alex?”

There was no answer.

“Alex?”

Nothing.

Maggie searched the apartment. The bathroom, the bedroom, closets, everywhere. Alex wasn’t here.

_That’s odd._

Maggie pulled out her cellphone, calling Alex one, two, three times. No answer. She then scrolled down to Kara’s contact and hit the call button. Three rings later, Kara’s voice came on the line.

“Hey Maggie!”

“Hey. Kara. Is Alex with you?”

There was silence for a bit, “No. I’m at the DEO. She isn’t here. I thought she was with you?”

“She stopped by the station earlier and then she said she was going to come home since there wasn’t anything for her to do. But I just got home and… she isn’t here.”

“Did you try to call her?”

“Multiple times.”

Maggie could feel Kara’s panic rising over the line. “She would have called one of us if she would have changed plans. Something isn’t right.”

“Something isn’t right.” Maggie agreed.

“Come to the DEO. Now.”

But Maggie was already halfway out the door by then, “I’m on my way.”

\---------------------------------------

With full lights and sirens, Maggie made it across town to the DEO in less than 10 minutes.

She went right up the elevator, ignoring security. And they let her pass. They knew who her girlfriend was. And they didn’t want to have to deal with her later. 

The small chime of the elevator let Maggie know that she had arrived on the correct floor, and she took a deep breath before the doors opened, revealing the main floor of the DEO.

Kara was waiting for her, with Alex’s phone in hand. “Winn pinged her phone. It was in a parking garage. I don’t know why she would have been there. But it was just her phone. It makes no sense.”

Maggie took the phone in her hands, “Did you check the security cameras?”

“There were security cameras there. But they were broken. There’s no footage at all.”

“Witnesses?”

“None.”

“That’s convenient.”

Maggie walked over to the circular table in the middle of the room, putting her head in her hands and shaking her head. “We’re going to find her. We have to find her.”

“We will. Everyone’s on it. Winn is trying to find traces on cameras around the city. James and J’onn are both out searching, and I’m going to go join them.” Kara placed a hand on Maggie’s shoulder. “We are going to find her.”

Maggie nodded, making her way back towards the elevator, “I’m going to go back to the station and..”

“GUYS!”

Kara and Maggie stopped mid-stride and whirled around to see Winn, at his computer with his hand raised, “I got something.”

They rushed over to his side, Maggie felt Kara automatically tense up. “What? What is it?”

“It’s an incoming transmission from…somewhere. It’s encrypted. I can’t track it.” Winn looked up at Maggie “Do I accept it?”

Maggie nodded. “Accept it.”

Winn quickly pressed a few keys, clicked a few times, and finally hit the button that would throw the transmission onto the big screen.

Maggie’s breath caught in her throat.

On the screen was Alex, in a chamber. It didn’t look like she was aware that the camera was on. Maggie watched as Alex felt around the walls around her, looking for a crack, a nick, a way out. Something.

A man’s voice came over the speakers, _Hello, Supergirl. Walk into prison and break my father out within the next 36 hours…or your sister will die. Tick tock._ The screen went black.

Maggie stared at the screen for a few seconds, then glanced at Kara, whose mouth was wide open, eyes unseeing, but clearly terrified. 

Winn slowly turned around in his chair to face the both of them. “What do we do?”

Maggie leveled her head, clenched her fists, and took another deep breath to prepare herself for the hours to come. “We find her. We find the people who took her. And we kill them. Every last one.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun dun! Here's chapter 2!
> 
> I hope to have this entire story finished by the time 2x19 airs...fingers crossed!
> 
> Please feel free to drop a comment or a kudos and follow me on Tumblr @hollywritessometimes!


	3. Hour 5 - Alex

Alex was beginning to think there was no way out of this.

Ray had left hours ago, as he seemed to have nothing left to say after delivering his ominous message. 

Which left Alex alone in her chamber, with nothing to do but to try to find a way out.

Getting her hands untied was easy. The drain was screwed into the floor. So after a few minutes of unscrewing and three bloody fingers later, she was able to get enough room to rub her tie against it until it broke.

But that was two hours ago. 

And Alex was still here.

She took a minute to look around her, she was surrounded my cement walls and glass. Above her, was a chain link ceiling. Alex guessed it was to make sure she didn’t suffocate.  
She had no gun. No gear. But she still had her wits, so that was going to have to be enough.

Alex moved herself to a corner of her chamber, took a small running start, and kicked off of the glass in front of her in an attempt to grab hold of the linked ceiling above. 

She managed to get a hand on it, wrapping her fingers around a link, then brought her other hand up to meet it. She shook the ceiling around, tried to pull down on it, _I mean it’s like a fence how sturdy can it be?_ But it didn’t budge.

She dropped back down to the floor below, frustrated but determined. She punched the glass in front of her a few times, with no luck. Alex frowned, spinning a full 360 before unhooking her belt and sliding it from around her waist. She took a second, and examined the buckle before swinging it like a lasso at the glass wall of her prison. One, two, three, four times. Nothing. Not a crack. Not a chip. 

_Shit._

Alex dropped the belt, and slid down the back wall and started to plan her next move when the main door slammed open again. Ray was back.

She quickly stood back up, body rigid and face tense. “What do you want with me?"

Ray stopped when he reached the glass parting the two of them, so that he and Alex were eye to eye.

“With you specifically? Nothing. I want your sister.” He sighed. “I need her help.”

Alex squinted, “Help with what?”

Ray began to make his way around her cell. “My father. He’s in prison. I need your sister to break him out.”

“Why not just do it yourself?”

Ray blinked. “She’s Supergirl.”

Alex shrugged. “And?”

“My father has done some…questionable things. He’s killed dozens of people. He was sent here, to National City, to be held in your maximum security prison.” Ray stopped pacing to look Alex in the eye. “He is hated by the public. He is feared by them. This city trusts your sister. So I’m hoping she can change that.”

Alex shook her head. “You’re insane.”

“That’s a matter of personal opinion, Agent Danvers.” Ray pointed to the camera in the corner of her cell. “Do you see that camera?”

“Yeah, so?”

Ray glanced over to one of his guards. “What time is it?”

“1 minute ‘till, sir.”

He smiled, “Excellent. You see, Alex, you’re my leverage over the Girl of Steel. I’ve been observing the two of you for a while. I see how she protects you. I see how she puts you above everyone. I’m going to use that to my advantage.”

Alex was trying to comprehend exactly what Ray was saying, when the sound of water rushing in the walls around her made her freeze. Suddenly, water started flowing out from the pipe that was sticking out of the wall, and Alex’s eyes got wide as she started to piece things together.

“You see, Alex, every hour at the top of the hour, the water will switch on!” Ray had to yell to be heard over the sound of the water. “It will flow for one minute, then it will stop! I gave your sister 36 hours. It’s already been 5. Any more than that, and you drown!” He then pointed to the camera in her chamber. “Your sister is watching, beg her to save you!”

Alex snapped her head up towards the camera, and saw that the light on it was now flashing red. “Kara. You listen to me. You do not save me. Do you hear me? Do not do this. This man will kill more people. Innocent people who you swore to protect! Do you hear me Kara? You cannot let yourself be blackmailed. Supergirl is bigger than me!”

At that, the red light switched off, as did the flow of water. Alex glanced down, and frowned when she saw that she was now standing in water that was ankle deep.

She steeled her voice. “She won’t do it. She won’t free him.”

But Ray was already halfway out the door, his guards in tow. “We’ll see, Agent Danvers. We’ll see.”


	4. Hour 23 - Maggie

“No.”

Maggie looked taken aback. “I wasn’t asking for your permission, Kara.”

Kara’s hand came down on Maggie’s shoulder, and was immediately brushed off, “Alex would not want this.”

Maggie quickly spun around to face Kara, anger in her voice. “What Alex would not want is for us to let him go. She told you that specifically!”

“That doesn’t mean we can _torture_ him!”

“What choice do we _have_?”

“There’s always another way.”

“Yeah, well, you don’t have to come.”

“Maggie that’s not right.”

That was the moment Maggie finally blew it. “I don’t care, Kara! I do not care! They can take my job. Throw me in jail if they want to. But I’m going to get what we need to save her. You know damn well if if we release him they’ll kill her anyway! Its been 23 hours already and we only _just_ found him. We’re running out of time!”

Kara took a step forward, and silently wrapped her arms around her sister’s girlfriend. She felt Maggie relax slightly at the touch. “We’re going to find her, Mags. We’re going to find her.”

Maggie turned her head to bury her face in Kara’s shoulder, but only for a second, before she broke away, eyes full or fire and determination. “Yes, yes we are.”

\---------------------  
Maggie had the man escorted to an interrogation room, and not to Kara’s surprise, told the guards to leave. Kara stood behind the observation mirror, watching, waiting, and hoping this wouldn’t get bad. Maggie had agreed to keep her cool. To talk to the man before they decided their next move.

Kara watched Maggie slide a coffee cup across the table, before she sat down herself. 

Maggie glanced down at the file in front of her. “So, your name is Elijah?”

The man just stared.

“Do you have anything to say?”

“I want a lawyer.”

“Well tough shit. You don’t get one.”

Elijah let out a small sigh. “Pity.”

“Where is Alex?”

Maggie watched as he tilted his head. “How many hours has it been, since you got the call?”

Behind the mirror, Kara stiffened. 

“Where. Is. Alex?” Maggie growled.

Elijah lifted his chin and glanced towards the mirror. “I want to talk to _her_.”

Maggie took a deep breath and nodded towards the mirror, giving Kara the ok to come in. 

Kara opened the door, taking full sight of Elijah for the first time. He was fairly tall, had gray hair, and one of the most piercing pairs of blue eyes Kara had ever seen. “Tell me where my sister is.”

“I can’t do that.”

“It wasn’t a question.”

Maggie slipped her hip badge off of her belt, placing it silently on the table. “You’re going to tell us where she is.”

Elijah smirked. “Oh, now don’t get tough on me Detective Sawyer. We both know you don’t have what it takes. You’re a lot of bark. But not a lot of bite.”

Kara took a step forward. “But I am.”

Maggie’s eyes got wide. “Kara?”

“No. It’s like you said. We’re going to get Alex back. And this piece of shit isn’t going to tell us a thing.”

“I sure won’t.”

“Kara.” Maggie interrupted. “Can I speak to you outside?”

Kara glanced over at the worried look on Maggie’s face and mumbled a low, “Yeah, okay.”

Once outside, Maggie took a short few steps down the hall. “You can’t do this. It isn’t you. Let me.”

“Yeah you’re right it isn’t me. But I was thinking. You’re right. Even if we let him go they will still kill her. They’ll still kill Alex.” Kara sped on. “But if you do this, Alex will never look at you the same, especially because it's over her. She has done things like this herself, and she hates herself for it every day. I’m her sister. You’re her girlfriend. Let me do this. For both of us. For her.”

“Kara, no. Alex would not forgive me for letting you torture a man.”

“If we don’t, she won’t be around to forgive you!” Kara didn’t wait for an answer. Storming back into the interrogation room instead. So Maggie waited outside. She waited for Kara to get what she needed. What they needed. Maggie stood there, drowning out the sounds of Elijah’s screams, and hoping that Kara would somehow come out the other side of this unscathed.


	5. Hour 36 (Part 1) - Alex

She was running out of time.

The water was now inches from the top of her chamber. Which meant there was only inches of oxygen left. 

She was going to die here.

She had tried the punching. The kicking. The wailing on the glass until her fists bled. But nothing had worked. 

Alex hung there, clinging to the chain links above by the tips of her fingers, desperate to keep her head above water. Desperate for air. Desperate for life. But the gap was closing too fast. There was no way out of this one. No saving grace. No last ditch effort. Alex chuckled lightly at the fact that this was how the famous Alex Danvers would go out.  
But that was okay. 

Because she knew that Kara and Maggie were both safe, and that they would take care of each other in her absence. They would be broken. Shattered. Torn apart. But Alex was confident that they would be okay without her. 

So as the water finally reached the top of her chamber, Alex took one last final breath. She used the remaining strength that she had to push herself back towards the bottom of the chamber, quickly grabbing the screw she had used earlier to free her hands. She could feel herself fading, could see her vision blacking out. But she held on just long enough to scratch two words into the glass in front of her. She knew Maggie and Kara would eventually find her. And she wanted them to know that she was at peace. That she loves them. But most of all, that _It’s okay._


	6. Hour 36 (Part 2) - Maggie

_It’s okay._

Maggie couldn’t move.

She stared at the glass in front of her, at the love of her life, floating there. Floating there. She was floating there. Floating. Lifeless. 

Dead.

Maggie felt a burst of air as Kara flew on top of the tank, easily ripping the top chains off and pulling her sister out of the water below. 

“Maggie!”

Kara set her sister down. Taking a second to listen for breath sounds. Heartbeats. Literally anything. 

“She’s not…”

Maggie cut her off. Quickly moving to start CPR on her girlfriend. Compressions on compressions. Minute after minute. Nothing.

“Alex no. You do not get to die on me. Do you freaking hear me Danvers? You can’t do this to me.”

Kara was kneeling beside her, eyes unseeing, mouth slightly open in shock. 

Maggie had lost her girlfriend. Kara had lost her sister. But Alex had wanted them to know that it was okay. 

It was not okay.

Maggie gathered Alex into her arms, dripping tears all over her, kissing Alex’s forehead, her hair, her cheeks. This couldn’t be it. This isn’t how it was supposed to end.

They were supposed to get married. To move in together. They were supposed to get a dog. Two dogs. Three. They were supposed to take vacations and road trips and go on adventures together. They were supposed to stay up at night and watch the stars, walk barefoot along the shore, steal kisses while stuck in traffic. There were so many things they were supposed to do. Together. As one.

It was not supposed to end like this.

Maggie let out a scream, setting Alex down and pounded her chest one, two, three times.

And Alex gasped.

Kara finally yelped, “Oh my God!”

Maggie flipped Alex onto her side, patting her back in an effort to get all the water from her lungs. Desperately fighting the urge to pull Alex into her arms until Alex finally stopped coughing and croaked out a small “Ouch.”

Then Maggie couldn’t help it. She held Alex’s head, kissing her on her hair, so many times. Kara was crying. Alex was crying. Maggie was crying. 

They stayed that way until the DEO arrived, their medics surrounding them. Until J’onn placed a reassuring hand on both of their shoulders, signaling for them to back away and let the medics do their job.

And on the ride back to the DEO, between their armored soldiers, the NCPD officer escort, and Supergirl flying up above, Alex was safe. Maggie knew the next few weeks would be tough for her girlfriend. But she would be there through it all. Through everything. Forever. Alexandra Danvers keeps her head above water, and Maggie will love her until the end of time.

**Author's Note:**

> This may be 4 or 5 chapters? We'll see! Drop a comment or a kudos and follow me on Tumblr @hollywritessometimes!


End file.
